March For Our Lives packs Annapolis with calls for gun control

People of all ages marched from Lawyers Mall to City Dock as part of March For Our Lives Annapolis, one of a series of rallies that took place in Washington, D.C., Baltimore and other cities around the nation on Saturday.

People of all ages marched from Lawyers Mall to City Dock as part of March For Our Lives Annapolis, one of a series of rallies that took place in Washington, D.C., Baltimore and other cities around the nation on Saturday.

A massive crowd of students and others filled Lawyers Mall in Annapolis on Saturday morning, calling for stronger gun control laws in the wake of recent school shootings.

As the gathering flooded out onto and across the street, it became clear the Annapolis march and rally would be as far-reaching in purpose as it was in its size.

Signs lambasted the National Rifle Association, the idea of arming teachers and even the moniker of “fake news,” while speakers called for gun control, equality and peace.

As many as 1,500 people were expected to take part in March For Our Lives Annapolis, one of a series of rallies that took place in Washington, D.C., Baltimore and other cities around the nation.

Observers said, however, it was among the largest rallies in recent memory in Annapolis, a city accustomed to being a platform for protests. City officials tweeted it was a “record-breaking” crowd, but said Saturday they’d have no official way to make that determination, as neither city nor Maryland Capitol Police comment on crowd sizes.

People of all ages marched from Lawyers Mall to City Dock as part of March For Our Lives Annapolis, one of a series of rallies that took place in Washington, D.C., Baltimore and other cities around the nation on Saturday.

Mayor Gavin Buckley, an Australian immigrant, told the crowd, dotted with signs and banners, that gun laws passed in Australia following a mass shooting in 1996. The country passed sweeping gun control legislation and put strict regulations on legal gun ownership after a man killed 35 people at a popular tourist site in Tasmania.

Buckley spent much of his speech addressing the students who participated in and organized the march, urging them to vote in local and national elections when they’re of age.

“We all compromise in our lives,” Buckley said. “We (adults) have let you down and I truly believe it’s going to happen because of you.”

Organized by Mackenzie Boughey, a 16-year-old sophomore at the Severn School, and students across Anne Arundel’s public schools, the event hit a personal tone for much of the evening, featuring speakers who had their own experiences with gun violence.

Bob Cox, who said his son was at Virginia Tech during the 2007 mass shooting, said his son lost a friend and was set to go on a date with a woman who also died during the attack.

He led the crowd in chants of “Enough is enough,” and singled out a semiautomatic rifle targeted by many advocates of gun control.

“I call bull---- on not banning AR-15s.”

Tammi Ramzziddin, wife of slain Prince George’s County police officer Cpl. Mujahid Ramzziddin who was shot and killed off-duty while protecting a woman during a domestic dispute in his neighborhood, told the crowd to focus on community activism as well as calls for political or social change, saying the end to gun violence “starts at home.”

She also asked everyone in the crowd to “hug your neighbor,” a comment reflective of the many calls for peace and equality that came from the podium centered at Lawyers Mall on Saturday.

Along with students, some teachers spoke at the march. Some commented on suggestions by the NRA and President Donald Trump that one solution is arming teachers.

Allison Heintz, who identified herself as a fourth-grade teacher, compared that idea to school funding.

Donna Christie, who said she was a Prince George’s County Public Schools psychologist, called for expansion of mental health funding.

“Don’t arm me with a gun in my school,” she said.

As the march began down Main Street toward City Dock, it was clear its message had resonated with a significant portion of Anne Arundel’s youth and adult population. The entire length of Main Street was filled with protesters for several minutes as they marched from the State House at noon.

Lena Hanraham, a 16-year-old junior at Annapolis High School, said she came to the rally because she believes public schools should be a safe haven, especially for those who come from more crime-ridden neighborhoods.

She added her support does not mean a ban on all guns, saying that hunting “is a way of life” for some people in this country.

The crowd echoed many of those sentiments, some holding signs protesting the NRA and its president, Wayne LaPierre. The NRA has been a strident critic of calls for stricter gun control laws in the wake of the shooting that killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

While the march was organized in response to the shooting in Parkland last month, recent events have provided an impetus closer to home.

Two students were shot Tuesday by a classmate, who was killed, at Great Mills High School in St. Mary’s County. One of his victims, 16-year-old Jaelynn Willey, died Thursday night after being taken off life support.

“Rolling road closures will be in effect from 11 a.m. through 1 p.m. Please use caution on the roads and prepare for detours and delays,” police wrote in a tweet.

The event was student-driven, though the teens have received help with things such as permitting from March on Maryland.

Thousands of other students from across Maryland were expected to board buses and head to Washington, joining peers from across the nation. District of Columbia officials have said they were preparing for a crowd of 500,000.

The fear of gun violence has been present in Anne Arundel County schools in recent weeks, with a dozen threats of violence aimed at elementary, middle and high schools.

Last week, the House of Delegates passed three gun control bills that expand the state’s assault weapons ban and create ways to seize guns from dangerous people.

The chamber approved, 128-7, a ban on “bump stocks” and other devices that can turn a semi-automatic gun into a rapid-fire one. Those after-market devices were used by the shooter in last year’s massacre that killed 58 at a Las Vegas concert.

The legislation is working its way through the state Senate, and Gov. Larry Hogan has expressed his support.

The House also passed, 116-17, a so-called “red flag law” that would allow a judge to order gun owners to temporarily surrender their firearms if they’re deemed a threat to themselves or others.

Advocates say such a law may have prevented last month’s Parkland shooting. Law enforcement had raised concerns about the suspect months before the shooting, but said they had no legal way to seize his guns.

The chamber also approved a new way to make sure gun owners convicted of domestic violence incidents surrender their weapons. Current law forbids them from owning them, but there is not currently a way to ensure the firearms are not in their possession.

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